MODELING TOOLS - SHEARS
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WILLIAM PARDIE
There have been several good discussions on this list lately concerning tools for modeling. One of these was for drills and one for tweezers. Can someone recommend a really good quality pair of shears? I have been buying the "popular" brand sold by Walthers and Micro Mark for years and they just do not hold up. I so not drop them on the floor, throw them against the wall or cut rebar with them. Yet I seem to have to replace them on a frequent basis. I would appreciate any suggestions. Bill Pardie |
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Jack Burgess <jack@...>
Bill...
Are you talking about shears for cutting thin metal such as photo-etched parts? If so, I really like my Xuron 440 Mini-Scissor. Clean cuts and nice feel...
Manufactured in the USA too...
Jack Burgess
for drills and one for tweezers. Can someone recommend a really good quality pair of shears? I have been buying the "popular" brand sold by Walthers and Micro Mark for years and they just do not hold up. I so not drop them on the floor, throw them against the wall or cut rebar with them. Yet I seem to have to replace them on a frequent basis. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Bill Pardie
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Marty McGuirk
I have the Xuron set (based on Jack's recommendation) and have been extremely happy with them for cutting etched metal parts and even cutting thin metal. Marty McGuirk |
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WILLIAM PARDIE
I used the term "shear" as that is how they are listed in the Walthers catalog. They are actually wire cutters used
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on .006 - .033 wire. I apologize for the inaccurate terminology. In the Walthers catalog they are 90001 to 90026. Possible I am misusing them but i use them in cutting small lines once soldered to brake components or distributor valves. I have other "shears" for etchings. Bill Pardie On Mar 27, 2014, at 7:10 AM, WILLIAM PARDIE wrote:
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destorzek@...
If that's how Walthers describes them, they are misusing the term.
SHEARS have bypassing blades, like a scissors. They cut the material by shear failure. Wire cutters are technically CUTTING PLIERS or just cutters. The have sharpened blades that meet at a line, and cut the material by compression. Typically for common wire work, the cutters have an angle ground on both sides of the blade. In our hobby work we tend to like at least one square end on the cut material, so tend to use FLUSH CUTTERS, which have the angle ground on only one side of the blades. The fine tweezers style cutters that are sold as sprue nippers are technically CUTTING TWEEZERS, and the best are actually surgical tools. Dennis Storzek |
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Jack Burgess <jack@...>
For cutting wire, I use another Xuron tool, their 410 Micro Shear Flush Cutter. The cutter produces a square cut on one of the two parts like Dennis mentions and can cut wire up to about 24 gauge. It is light weight and thus easy to fit into a tight area for cutting when needed. For heavier wire, I use the same flush cutters sold for cutting rail...
Jack Burgess
From: STMFC@... [mailto:STMFC@...] On Behalf Of WILLIAM PARDIE
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 12:09 PM To: STMFC@... Subject: Re: [STMFC] MODELING TOOLS - SHEARS
on .006 - .033 wire. I apologize for the inaccurate terminology. In the Walthers catalog they are 90001 to 90026. Possible I am misusing them but i use them in cutting small lines once soldered to brake components or distributor valves. I have other "shears" for etchings.
Bill Pardie
On Mar 27, 2014, at 7:10 AM, WILLIAM PARDIE wrote:
There have been several good discussions on this list lately concerning tools for modeling. One of these was for drills and one for tweezers. Can someone recommend a really good quality pair of shears? I have been buying the "popular" brand sold by Walthers and Micro Mark for years and they just do not hold up. I so not drop them on the floor, throw them against the wall or cut rebar with them. Yet I seem to have to replace them on a frequent basis. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Bill Pardie
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Denny Anspach <danspachmd@...>
For the very finest work, I still use the superb Swiss-made PBL flush cutting surgical "tweezers" that they once supplied (and which I still protect like Fort Knox), and varieties of may still be available through Otto Frei. MicroMark copied these (Pakistan) and I purchased two for reserve They did not have chance to fail, but out of the box they never worked - reliably "gumming" instead of actually cutting the parts to be divided.
The Xuron flush cutters are very good, and are of high quality. Because of the very sharp edge that these flush cutters allow, they will also not stand up well to heavy or casual use, so I too deliberately reserve them for finer work. For good casual sacrificial use, I have been purchasing for several years, and keep a small supply of a line of imported blued-handled sprue/flush cutting pliers found in a bin at the local independent professional electronics supplier (Metro) that have commonly cost as little as @$5. I have also seen them elsewhere. They are distinctly a cut above flea market level, but apparently can still be brittle with heavier sprues (as reported by the store staff). As the edges of these cutters dull or chip, I relegate them progressively to secondary and tertiary work before finally giving them the heave-ho. A Cautionary note: Noting the increasing availability of fine stainless steal wire for grabs, etc. etc, using any of these fine tools to cut this wire distinctly hazards the integrity of the cutting edges. I do not know the cure for this problem, and currently handle it when I have to with one of the sacrificial blue-handled cutters. Denny Denny S. Anspach Sacramento, CA |
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Bill Welch
I also have the PBL close cutting "tweezers" also. In fact I have two versions, one pair having been ground for even closer cutting. I use these ONLY for cutting styrene. I am trying to remember how I got onto to these, probably through one of my West Coast friends. Did Terry Wegman do the grinding on the modified pair?
Bill Welch |
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Jack Burgess <jack@...>
I think I saw an ad for them in the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette. PBL offered three versions...one with a very fine edge for close cutting, a medium, and a heavier duty one. Of course, I bought one of each and marked them so that I won't use them for the wrong job. The finest one is used only for cutting sprues (the connection to the part and not the thick portion), and the heavy one for cutting wire less than 0.15" or so. I haven't yet figured out what to use the middle one for.
These are exceptional quality (and no longer available) and the cost was lower than you would normally pay for this quality. The rumor I heard is that a manufacturer offered a bunch of them to PBL (going out of business, too many on hand, ?) so PBL was able to sell them for a deeply discounted price.
Jack Burgess
I also have the PBL close cutting "tweezers" also. In fact I have two versions, one pair having been ground for even closer cutting. I use these ONLY for cutting styrene. I am trying to remember how I got onto to these, probably through one of my West Coast friends. Did Terry Wegman do the grinding on the modified pair? Bill Welch |
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PBL offered four different versions of their spru cutting tweezers. They were made by Utica in Switzarland. I purchased mine direct from PBL at their booth at a NG Convention after reading about them in a review or a PBL ad in NGSL Gazatte. Since then I have also purchased the cheap Pakistan copy offered by someone (as a backup). The cheap ones do not compare at all, the cutting edges are not as sharp, they do not mate up correctly, the “spring” is not right, and they do not have proper balance and feel when being held in your hand. It is a shame the PBL cutters are no longer available.
Doug Harding www.iowacentralrr.org
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I have the PBL "fine" and "extra fine" sprue cutters and I use them both on sprues and only sprues depending in the thickness. They are getting older and I probably need to start thinking about replacements.
Brian Carlson. |
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A search for the Utica Swiss cutters took me to this site: http://www.apexhandtools.com/brands/erem/index.cfm?model_list=1&att_id=ERE001&att1=High%20Precision%20Tweezers&att2=Cutting Which appear to be similar to the PBL cutters.
My earlier post said Utica of Switzerland, which may be incorrect. They say Utica Swiss, which I assumed meant Switzerland. There was an American Company “Utica Tool Company Inc” that made handtools: tweezers, pliers, wire cutters and wire stirppers, under the “Utica Swiss” brand. A patent for the name was registered in 1986. I am not at home, so not able to look at my PBL cutters to read the actual name or trademark stamped on the side of the cutters.
Here is a review of these type of cutters in RMJ, May 2000 with information about the PBL cutters http://www.trainlife.com/magazines/pages/261/19465/may-2000-page-11
Doug Harding www.iowacentralrr.org
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Tony Thompson
Doug Harding wrote:
The fine sprue cutters that PBL offered remain available in Europe, and at one point I made an effort through a European contact to see about getting them imported. The purchase would have to be in some quantity to make prices reasonable. But contacting several of the top hobby shops yielded not ONE taker, so the project foundered. I know PBL was happy to have bought a fair lot of these and sold them out, so I'm sure they don't want to go there again. I would certainly buy more, because even though mine are working perfectly, they won't last forever. Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com (510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, tony@... Publishers of books on railroad history |
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Peter Burr <pburr47@...>
I think that these are similar cutting tweezers to the PBL ones. At $31.80, they are *MUCH* less expensive than others I've found. Peter Burr Nashville, TN 931-808-5125
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